As previously noted by this writer, my direct contact with school board politix is, at best, marginal. Don’t go to meetings, semi – knowledgeable about current issues [got a kid at Stivers, I don’t want to see Jullienne School on Old Orchard torn down etc]. Like a lot of other people. When I think about the schools I believe in a public education system that meets the needs of its community as visualized and implemented by a community based and controlled school board.

The people on that Board need to be the best we as a community can elect to serve us. I had a great conversation with Nancy Nerny the other day, and I came away even more convinced that this was someone who would fulfill that role. Ms Nerny is a woman who is deeply involved with the learning/teaching community of Dayton. As a teacher, she has legions of students who can recall being in her classroom as one of the high points of s school day. My youngest son, now nearly 20, was in here when Nancy was. He had her as a student years ago, but the embrace both for and by the former student was still warm and spontaneous. And it’s not the 1st time I’ve seen her greeted by former students in a similar fashion.

Nancy Nerny will translate that connection into action on the board. Her goal is to be a uniter, focused on resolving contentious financial issues surrounding the current Boards spending on multi million dollar administration buildings instead of focusing on the needs of the students. Nancy doesn’t fancy herself a “politician”, but, if by politics you mean the art and science of getting people to get along in a manner that is mutually beneficial for as many as possible while respecting the rights of those who disagree, then I think she will do fine. Thats the kind of “non-politician” we need running our schools. Nancy Nerny is already doing some of this. She serves on several School Board advisory committees and is communication with current and past Board members for their views.

In my estimation though, it is the community connection and her focus on building the communication with the parents and on connecting the schools and parents with the larger community. She sees the necessity of looking into the future to continuously refine and develop curriculum that is ahead of the community needs curve That’s a one two punch that pretty much says it all for me.

btw: Nancy is part of a slate that is associated with current Board member Joe Lacey. In part of an interview with Mike Robinnette, on the DaytonOs website, Lacey elaborates in more detail about why he supports the slate Ms Nerny is part of. It’s an interesting slice of both Board and Democratic Party internal goings on… http://daytonos.com/

The University of Florida student who proclaimed ”Don’t Tase me, bro!” made a different kind of statement Tuesday: I’m sorry.

Andrew Meyer, a senior from Weston, expressed his regret for all the negative attention he brought and for provoking police officers who stunned him with a Taser at an on-campus speech by U.S. Sen. John Kerry in Gainesville.

The 21-year-old’s statement also helps his legal battle. Apologies to UF and university police were among the requirements for him to avoid prosecution.

The two charges against Meyer are suspended for the next 18 months while the college senior is on probation, said Spencer Mann, chief investigator for the state attorney’s office covering north central Florida.

In addition to making the apologies, Meyer can’t break any laws. He must donate money to the American Cancer Society or do 10 hours of community service. He must comply with any punishment from UF.

Then the charges will be dropped, Mann said, adding the deal was the same as those offered other first-time student offenders.

”The only difference between this and the other ones is this one has video,” Mann said, referring to clip of Meyer’s arrest that exploded across the Internet.

Meyer’s lawyer, Robert Griscti, said his client had wanted to apologize in the first days after his arrest but waited until the legal case was resolved.

On Sept. 17, Meyer peppered Kerry with questions on subjects ranging from impeaching President Bush to the secretive Skull and Bones society at Yale University. Then he wouldn’t leave.

Cops tried removing Meyer and stunned him with the Taser after he repeatedly refused to go and grabbed hold of the furniture.

He was charged with resisting an officer without violence and interfering with an educational institution function.

Video of the confrontation on the Internet turned the event into a world-wide talker. Meyer’s scream of ”Don’t Tase me, bro!” fast became a catchphrase that ended up on coffee mugs and T-shirts.

Meyer released four apologies Tuesday: one to UF President Bernie Machen, one to the police, one to the UF community and a final one in lieu of seeing reporters.

He admitted to forcing the officers to take action against him and said he never meant to damage the reputations of UF or the police.

In one, Meyer wrote, “Because of the world we live in, the polarized environment in America that I have grown up in, I felt that being adamant and confrontational about my beliefs was the right way to effect change.

“I was wrong.”

UF officials said they would punish Meyer but wouldn’t say how, citing student privacy. Griscti only said Meyer wasn’t suspended.

But Meyer is withdrawing from classes for the rest of this semester. He plans to re-enroll in January.

”The enormous media attention and just the public attention to this — it’s a distraction,” Griscti said.

“It’s hard to do what you need to do, stay focused on a job. And his job is being a student.”

Also on Tuesday, UF campus police released the results of their investigation into the incident.

That police report concluded that the charges against Meyer were substantiated and use of force was justified, UF spokesman Steve Orlando said.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement reached similar conclusions in its own investigation, a summary of which was released on Oct. 24.

And don’t think the story, fueled by the Internet, is over. Griscti has started a website, www.meyercase.com, that promises updates.

Written, produced and directed by first-time documentarian Charles Ferguson, a political scientist with a doctorate from MIT and experience at the Brookings Institution, “No End in Sight” packs the enraging cumulative punch of a “J’accuse,” but its tone could hardly be more sober. As lucid as it is level-headed, the film has a clear thematic focus — what went wrong in Iraq — and it identifies the catastrophic turning points with steely precision and a wealth of context. The result, narrated in a grave monotone by Campbell Scott, is a catalog of horrors so absurd and relentless it verges on farce, or Greek tragedy.

— LA Times Review

Remember the scene in “A Clockwork Orange” where Alex has his eyes clamped open and is forced to watch a movie? I imagine a similar experience for the architects of our catastrophe in Iraq. I would like them to see “No End in Sight,” the story of how we were led into that war, and more than 3,000 American lives and hundreds of thousands of other lives were destroyed….

Although Bush and the war continue to sink in the polls, I know from some readers that they still support both. That is their right. And if they are so sure they are right, let more young men and women die or be maimed. I doubt if they will be willing to see this film, which further documents an administration playing its private war games. No, I am distinctly not comparing anyone to Hitler, but I cannot help being reminded of the stories of him in his Berlin bunker, moving nonexistent troops on a map, and issuing orders to dead generals.

— Roger Ebert, Four Stars for “No End in Sight”

That said, prepare to be riveted: No End in Sight, Charles Ferguson’s first film, is without question the most important movie you are likely to see this year. It is not a film that simply massages your pre-existing attitudes about the war in Iraq. Rather it is a work that tells you things you almost certainly did not know about that disaster or things that have been lost to sight as chaos, anarchy and our feelings of helplessness have grown over the years since the invasion of 2003. Specifically, what it says is that the war was lost by the “coalition” in its first month — when U.S. forces failed to protect the Iraqi museum and library, among 20 other invaluable cultural, social and political sites.

“Now we have no national heritage,” a curator, standing in the ruins of his institution, says. This is bad enough, but the failure had dire and immediate political consequences as well. Televised images of the looters sent a message to the Iraqis that absent the imposition of martial law (which the U.S. had a right to declare under the Geneva Conventions) ordinary citizens had nowhere to turn for protection of their lives and property. Except to the Muslim militias. Here was a faith-based initiative with a new and deadly face. Meanwhile, back in Washington, Donald (“I don’t do quagmires”) Rumsfeld made his little jokes: who knew there were so many vases available for purloining in Iraq?

Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act – Vote Passed (261-153, 18 Not Voting)
The House passed this bill that would allow Native Hawaiians to form an Interim Governing Council which would have the power to negotiate with the federal government.Rep. Michael Turner voted YES……send e-mail or see bioChildren’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act – Vote Passed (265-142, 26 Not Voting)
A new bill to reauthorize and expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program was passed by the House, a week after the chamber failed to override President Bush’s veto of the previous version of the bill.Rep. Michael Turner voted YES……send e-mail or see bio

Upcoming Votes

Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2007 – S.294
The Senate is scheduled to vote on this bill to reauthorize Amtrak.Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act – H.R.3963
The Senate is also expected to work on this bill to reauthorize and expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.Small Business Contracting Program Improvements Act – H.R.3867
The House is scheduled to vote on this bill that would update and expand the Small Business Administration’s procurement programs.Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007 – H.R.2262
This bill is intended to modify the requirements for mining on public domain lands.Trade and Globalization Assistance Act of 2007 – H.R.3920
The House will also take up this bill to amend the Trade Act of 1974 to reauthorize trade adjustment assistance and to extend trade adjustment assistance to service workers and firms.

What I’m For

1) What are your reasons for becoming a candidate for this office?-As a retired teacher and volunteer in the schools, I’ve seen from the inside the poor working and learning conditions of teachers and students. As such, I would like to:-To increase community involvement in the Dayton Public Schools-To find ways to cut school costs but not quality before asking for a levy.-To better communicate school problems and issues to the community.2) What do you consider your greatest asset to be as a candidate or elected official?-Having worked in the Dayton Schools for 32 years as a teacher, and then volunteering there for 10 more years, I understand how they serve thecommunity and our children. Also I have extensive service to and knowledge of community nonprofits and how they use their resources to serve ourcommunity—experience I can apply to serving on the School Board.3) What resources do you have for your candidacy? (money, time, volunteers) -I am retired, so have lots of time, yet little money and a few volunteers.4) What do you feel will be the major issue(s) in your campaign and what is your position on it (them)? -I and many community members feel they have made incompetent financialdecisions, yet the present Board members disagree. As an example, I believethey have purchased administration buildings for management instead ofcommitting those funds to support children’s instructional needs. The Boardhas also asked the community for an outlandishly high levy without a clearlystated austerity plan, without exploring other funding options, and without enlisting broad community support. I plan to do the latter three, making sure theessentials of the classroom are present before public money is spent on otherthings.5) Do you support the rights of all workers to organize and bargain collectively? Please list specific involvement with or support of organized labor.-Yes, I have been a building representative and a member of the DaytonEducation Association, and am now lifetime member of the DEA-retired group.6) Minorities, women, organized labor, and the poor have always been important citizens. Please indicate any programs or initiatives you will propose regarding these groups if you are elected.-Most of the DPS students are poor and in a minority group. I plan to1) strengthen pre-school programs with more parent participation that will helpstudents become more ready for kindergarten and further education; 2)work withthe district to be more fiscally responsible; and 3) encourage more communitypartnerships that will increase the academic success of its students (for example,an Adopt-a-School plan, school-community advisory groups).

The woman testifying in federal court in Lower Manhattan could hardly have seemed more insignificant. She was an immigrant from South Korea and a prostitute, who spoke little or no English. She worked, she said, in brothels in New York, Philadelphia, Georgia, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C.

She did not offer a portrait of the good life. Speaking through an interpreter, she told about the time in D.C. when a guy came in who looked “like a mental patient, a psycho.” Weirded out, she wanted nothing to do with him. But she said the woman who ran the brothel assured her everything would be fine.

It was fine if you consider wrestling with Hannibal Lecter fine. The john clawed at this woman, gouging her flesh, peeling the skin from her back and other parts of her body. She was badly injured.

According to the government, the woman was caught up in a prostitution and trafficking network that ruthlessly exploited young Korean women, some of whom “were smuggled into the country illegally.”

In prior eras, the slave trade was conducted openly, with ads prominently posted and the slaves paraded and inspected like animals, often at public auctions. Today’s sex traffickers, the heirs to that tradition, try to keep their activities hidden, although the rest of the sex trade, the sale of the women’s services, is advertised on a scale that can only be characterized as colossal.

As a society, we’re repelled by the slavery of old. But the wholesale transport of women and girls across international borders and around the U.S. — to serve as prostitutes under conditions that in most cases are coercive at best — stirs very little outrage.

Leaf through the Yellow Pages in some American cities and you’ll find pages upon pages of ads: “Korean Girl, 18 — Affordable.” “Korean and Japanese Dolls — Full Service.” “Barely Legal China Doll — Pretty and Petite.”

The Internet and magazines have staggering numbers of similar ads. Thousands upon thousands of women have been brought here from Asia and elsewhere and funneled into the sex trade, joining those who are already here and in the business but unable to keep up with the ferocious demand.

This human merchandise — whether imported or domestic — is still paraded, inspected and treated like animals.

What’s important to keep in mind is the great extent to which the sex trade involves real slavery (kidnapping and rape), widespread physical abuse, indentured servitude, exploitation of minors and many other forms of coercion. This modern-day variation on the ancient theme of bondage flourishes largely because of the indifference of the rest of us, and the misogyny that holds fast to the view of women — all women — as sexual commodities.

The case in Manhattan federal court involves a ring that, according to prosecutors, used massage parlors and spas as fronts for prostitution. Some of the women were in the U.S. legally. Others, according to the government, were brought in by brokers (more accurately, traffickers or dealers in flesh), who provided false passports, visas and other documents.

Elie Honig, an assistant United States attorney, said women brought in illegally were pushed into prostitution to earn money “to pay back the tens of thousands of dollars that the brokers charged the women as quote, unquote, fees for bringing them into the United States.”

He told the jury: “We are talking about a regional network of businesses throughout the Northeast United States and beyond involved in transporting and selling women.”

A jury will decide whether the five defendants in this case — all Korean women, and accused of running a prostitution enterprise — are guilty. But the activities alleged by the government mirror the sexual trafficking and organized prostitution that is carried out on a vast scale here in the U.S. and around the world.

There is nothing benign about these activities. Upwards of 18,000 foreign nationals are believed to be trafficked into the U.S. each year. According to the State Department, 80 percent of trafficked people are women and children, an overwhelming majority of whom are trafficked for sexual purposes.

Those who think that most of the women in prostitution want to be there are deluded. Surveys consistently show that a majority wants very much to leave. Apologists love to spread the fantasy of the happy hooker. But the world of the prostitute is typically filled with pimps, sadists, psychopaths, drug addicts, violent criminals and disease.

Jody Williams is a former prostitute who runs a support group called Sex Workers Anonymous. Few women want to become prostitutes, she told me, and nearly all would like to get out.

“They want to quit for the obvious reasons,” she said. “The danger. The physical and emotional distress. The toll that it takes. The shame.”

The attorney general of the United States must be a defender of our constitutional rights. Because President Bush thinks he can do whatever he wants to do in the name of fighting terrorism, we need an attorney general who can explain to the president what the Constitution of this country is all about. We need an attorney general who does not believe the president has unlimited power. We need an attorney general who will tell President Bush that he is not above the law. We need an attorney general who clearly understands the separation of powers inherent in our Constitution. Regretfully, I have concluded that Michael B Mukasey would not be that kind of attorney general. That is why I will be voting against his nomination.

Let me be clear. Of course the United States government must do everything that it can to protect the American people from the dangerous threat of terrorism, but we can do that in ways that are effective and consistent with the Constitution and the civil liberties it guarantees. The Bush administration and the lawyers who have enabled it for the past seven years cannot be bothered with such technical legal niceties as the Bill of Rights. This administration thinks it can eavesdrop on telephone conversations without warrants, suspend due process for people classified as enemy combatants and thumb its nose when Congress exercises its oversight responsibility. That is why I called on Alberto Gonzales to resign. I had hoped that the confirmation process for a new attorney general would give the president and the Senate an important opportunity to refocus on the core American principles embedded in our Constitution.

Unfortunately, Judge Mukasey doesn’t get it. At his two-day confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, he suggested that eavesdropping without warrants and using “enhanced” interrogation techniques for terrorism suspects might be constitutional, even if they exceeded what the law technically allowed. He said Congress might not have the power to stop the president from conducting some surveillance without warrants. He even, incredibly, claimed to be unfamiliar with the technique known as waterboarding.

Waterboarding is a “very exquisite torture,” according to no less of an authority than Senator John McCain of Arizona, a former prisoner of war. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, provided Murkasey a graphic description of the practice. He told the nominee that it ”is the practice of putting somebody in a reclining position, strapping them down, putting cloth over their faces and pouring water over the cloth to simulate the feeling of drowning.” Still, Mukasey refused to say it was tantamount to torture or to venture an opinion on whether it is constitutional. Torquemada’s ghost might be smiling somewhere. I am not.

Without diminishing that issue, Mukasey’s lawyerly obfuscation on the point is not the biggest or even the most basic problem I have with his nomination. There is an even more important reason why he should not become the next attorney general.

Mukasey should not be confirmed because he could not muster a simple, straightforward answer at his confirmation hearing when he was asked the simple, straightforward question: Is the president of the United States required to obey federal statutes? “That would have to depend,” he weaseled, “on whether what goes outside the statute nonetheless lies within the authority of the president to defend the country.”

As it happens, the Supreme Court, one of those pesky other branches of government, reaffirmed just last year that the president must comply with a valid federal statute. In a case involving military commissions, the majority even took note of the fact at the time that the Justice Department “does not argue otherwise.” Mukasey evidently would argue otherwise. “If Judge Mukasey cannot say plainly that the president must obey a valid statute, he ought not to be the nation’s next attorney general,” wrote Jed Rubenfeld, a professor of constitutional law at Yale Law School who appeared before Judge Mukasey as a prosecutor. He’s got that right.

It has become an American aphorism that ours is a government of laws, not men. We need an attorney general who understands that, so he can explain it to a president who does not

Despite having a reporter and a photographer at yesterdays Anti-Iraq War protest in Kettering the Dayton Daily News seems to have chosen active non-coverage as their modus operandi. I diligently searched the two front sections of this mornings paper to no avail, trying to find any mention of the local and national rallies against the Iraq War held in ELEVEN major cities around the country on Oct 27th.

Results > Nothing.

The on line version of the paper has a link to One Associated Press article, about the demonstration in San Francisco.

Despite the DDN’s Non Coverage of the Anti War Demos there were in fact rallies held all over the country yesterday, in towns, villages and cities big and small, involving tens of of thousands of people. Why the DDN chose not cover this event is certainly open to question, but is apparently linked to the decision to “dumb-down” what used to be a real newspaper into a parody of USA Today. Better to cover the really insignificant rather than to actually cover real news seems to be the DDN’s motto.

Then again, not getting any coverage of Anti-Iraq War news from the Daily News is, in fact, not news. I therefor present to you links to coverage of the Oct 27 anti Iraq war demonstrations from around the country. Admittedly this is a very incomplete list, but more links to news coverage can be found on line with a little effort.

btw: A diligent search of the website for DDN’s Cox Broadcasting sibling, WHIO-TV, for any mention of Saturday’s Anti-War rallies also gave up a fat ZERO. The same big ZED was the answer over at WDTN, Channel 2, where no references to anti war rallies, demonstrations [local or national] or anything even remotely related to public manifestations of anti-war sentiment could be found. Looking for evidence of any of the rallies on Channel 2/45 was also fruitless. Of course, it may be possible that one of these stations has or did coverage of the rally, but, if thats true, it sure ain’t easy to find it on their websites.

It might seem like a strange place to have an anti-war demonstration, but the corners of Stroop and Far Hill Avenues in Kettering all had protestors today, carrying signs that said “Support the Troops, End the War” “Peace Now” No War For Oil“”The Surge is Stagnant” and , of course, “Honk for Peace“. 40-50 people, young and old, including many veterans of anti war protests in the past, gathered to make a public statement against the Iraq War

In what is, speaking politically, probably the “reddest” part of Montgomery County, it seemed like at times that it was one long continuous horn blowing for peace as trafffic moved trough the intersection. If the horn was not blowing the occupants of many cars made gestures of support, from raised fists and shouts of “right on” to thumbs up and a quick nod of the head in support. There were very few indications of disagreement with the sentiments of the anti war sign holders, an occasional thumb turned down or a one finger salute. Reading the response as a very unscientific pol, it would seem clear that the Busheviks hold on the center and center right of the country, politically speaking, is fairly well eroded. There is a strong anti war current that runs deeper than it may seem on the surface, and it is at times like todays action that it becomes palpable.

The demonstration today was part of a larger nationwide day of of protests against the war sponsored by the coalition United for Peace and Justice. http://www.unitedforpeace.org/Preliminary reports said that about 5,000 marched in Chicago, while in New York City organizers estimated the turnout at 100,000. Updates on other cities will be posted as they become available.

No pictures yet of todays action in Kettering but I did find a couple from the Chicago demonstration.

Chicago Demonstration Oct 27, 2007

Diane Perea of Nevada City, Calif. and Mindy Oberne of Grass Valley, Calif. raise a peace flag, framing City Hall, during an anti-war rally at the Civic Center, Saturday, Oct.. 27, 2007 in San Francisco.

Rudy Giuliani, when asked if he would accept the Presidency if it hinged on him becoming a Red Sox Fan, replied:

“I have a great deal of respect for people who really are fans of the teams they say they are fans of, but probably that’s a deal I could not make”.

On Wed Giuliani declared himself a member of the Red Sox Nation for the duration of the World Series against the National League Colorado Rockies, claiming loyalty to the American League.

How so very typical of our candidate.

I grew up in Western Mass, and my sister lives in SE New Hampshire, all Red Sox Territory. Even when I lived there, which was a long long time ago, the North Shore of Boston extended well past the resort town of Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, which lies just across the border from Massachusetts’s less infamous Salisbury Beach. I would put heavy odds that the overwhelming #s of New England sports fans , never mind New Hampshire by itself, are ardent Sox fans [and of the Patriots, Bruins and Celtics…] . Ever the opportunist Rudy sees a chance for self aggrandizement and goes for it.

I don’t begrudge him this one quite as much as I do his flops on abortion rights, gay rights, human rights, civil rights, personal relationship commitment, family relationships and just about every other position or semi liberal/libertarian idea he made use of to hang onto the Mayorship of NYC.

Nope, because if you are Red Sox fan during a World Series you are OK with me. I HATE the Yankees, and derived great pleasure in their being shut out of the ACLS. BUT, and this is a big BUT, once the Series is over, Mr G, we’re comin’ after you and your secret Drag Queen alter ego…’cause you are wrong on just about everything that needs to be made right about America, starting with your incredibly callous remarks about torture, including about those you made about the infamous “waterboarding” method that Judge Mukasey, the Attorney General nominee, and you, in his defense, seem willing to endorse in the name of “fighting terrorism”,

That’s not the American way, Mr G, and, if that is YOUR position, then you stand both on the wrong side of the Law and the Constitution as well as being at opposite poles with the educated electorate you will face next November if you are the Republican nominee.

So, go right ahead, MR G, cheer for the Sox now, but know for real that your membership in the Red Sox Nation expires one second after the Sox claim the World Championship and that advance elements of that educated electorate will have drawn a bead on your strike OUT zone. See Ya!